The company hopes to capture the attention of wearable fans

Jul 4, 2014 08:35 GMT  ·  By

Like any self-respecting tech giant out there, ASUS has announced it has an interest in wearables. And as we told you not so long ago, the company is looking to introduce a smartwatch product, while taking advantage of the new and heavily hyped Android Wear goodness.

Now the ASUS smartwatch has been confirmed by the company’s chairman, Jonney Shih, who spoke to Focus Taiwan. What’s more, the official claims their smartwatch product will end up being a “hero product.”

He also gave us a little window into what the product might come equipped with. For starters, the watch will boast some “key features” which include notifications and the ability to understand and solve real-time problems, by employing the OK Google action.

Feats like being able to control the watch by virtue of voice commands are still pondered upon and Shih says the company had to learn about “trade-offs,” while they were designing the watch.

ASUS is known for creating decent products, with the Transformer lineup being the most popular among consumers who enjoy the versatility of 2-in-1 products. So the expectations are quite high, even in the smartwatch department.

ASUS will certainly need to find a way to differentiate itself from other competing products on the market, like the LG G Watch, Samsung Gear Live or Moto 360 and pricing might not be the only way to achieve this end.

The current report doesn’t mention whether the watch will run Android Wear now, but earlier information seemed to indicate this will be the case. After all, ASUS has been listed as one of Google Android Wear partners.

We mentioned pricing, because word on the street has it that the smartwatch will be sold for a super affordable price ranging from $99 / €73 and $149 / €109. This is quite a price reduction, considering that the LG G Watch sells for $229 / €167, while the Samsung Gear Live will be sold for $199 / €145.

Since we heard a lot of people complain about how expensive wearables are, the ASUS smartwatch might be met with a lot of interest.

Anyway, apart from the low price, ASUS could come up with an innovative design. Maybe it could build on top of what Motorola will be offering soon or could reinvent the smartwatch look at some level.

According to previous rumors, ASUS is expected to make its debut in the smartwatch sector in September, because the company wants to take its time and design a worthy product, not just meant to fill up the space.